Go Now Missions: Last minute choice and provision

In late March during one of our weekly BSM Bible studies, an Alaskan missionary named Brenda Crim began speaking about her ministry and the Alaskan culture that she is trying to reach. I began to think to myself, "If I were to actually do any summer mission, this would probably be the closest to perfect for me." Well, that feeling grew the entire time that Brenda spoke.

After she was done, we had a worship break and I was wrestling with the thoughts of school, work and money while the band went through a few songs. Cody, our BSM director, begins with his message on Jonah and his disobedience to go to Nineveh. It was overwhelming; I was basically slapped in the face with the realization that I have been ignoring God's calls in my life to consider missions every summer.

After his sermon and after I had lead our bible study that night I prayed for a little over an hour and God confirmed my decision to go to Alaska this coming summer.

We will be setting up tents and areas for the Alaskan residents to enjoy while catching their annual limit of Salmon. After the events are set up we will be doing ministry on the beach with the adults and their children.

I will be working with a student team of 6, equally divided in gender from different ministries in Texas. Fortunately, I am close with the other 2 guys that are going and have known them since high school.

I often make things somewhat harder on myself than I probably need to. This case is no exception as I am coming into the game quite late. I am required to raise $1500 in a rather short amount of time through Go Now Missions. I am not concerned with this aspect of the trip because I believe that God doesn't call someone and not take care of these things.

I am asking for prayers of safety and support of our team dynamic. We will be doing an equal amount of manual labor and personal ministry, and living with each other in these new roles could be trying to our collective patience. I ask that you pray for boldness in my personal evangelism.

I hope that you all would hold me in your prayers as I embark on this very new area of ministry. Thank you all for your support.

By Travis Brack, Mechanical Engineering student and BSM leader at UT Austin. He is serving in Alaska this summer through Go Now Missions. This post originally appeared on his blog http://alaskabrack.blogspot.com/ where you can follow his journey this summer. You'll also learn things like Travis was able to raise the money required for his trip in about two weeks. He says, "This rapid fundraising in partnership with the strong calling I received solidifies my belief that God has urgent work to do in Alaska."

Are you looking for a place to serve? You can find mission opportunities like the ones available through Go Now Missions on Be On Mission. You may also toggle between Open, Ongoing and Completed projects on the map by using the color pins above the search tool.

Be On Mission is an online global missions locator that allows users to Search, Submit, and Share about mission opportunities around the world. To learn more about Be On Mission, contact beonmission@texasbaptists.org.